Returning to the NME Awards (this time with ID&C – the kings of fabric wristbands) was one hundred percent as thrilling as my first time.

I have spent the last few years as a red carpet presenter, broadcast journalist, blogger, et al, but these events never fail to fill my inner child with immeasurable gratitude.

For the NME Awards 2017, I was fortunate enough to see Bastille perform live again (they were the best band I saw live last year), swoon as Skepta and Wiley’s bromance played out on stage, and watch girl power reign supreme with MIA winning Best British Female (alongside similar awards for the rising stars of Christine & The Queens and Dua Lipa).

Hair – The geniuses at Duck & Dry. In fact, I loved their new Oxford Circus blow dry bar so much I used it to shoot these pre-awards photos!Face Of The Day – Essentially exactly the same as The 90s Brunch Cher from Clueless makeup look (without the strobe cream).

With a day between trips to Athens and Slovenia (followed by less than 24 hours to prepare for over a month in America), I had what felt like a never-ending list of meetings, admin, and miscellaneous “things to get done” in Central London.

If that isn’t an excuse for a staycation, I’m not sure what is.

Though I had a lot to check off the list, I wanted to make the most of my favourite city in the world before I abandoned it and ibis London Euston St Pancras offered the perfect solution. The hotel is right around the corner from Euston and a few minutes walk from St Pancras, making it an ideal spot to not only get the most out of the capital but arrange super-fast airport transfers.

It is also etremely affordable for its location. Frill-free (as the ibis brand and price tag dictates) but surprisingly chic and spacious.

Between meetings, I used my room (read: puffy cloud of a bed) to get as an office, caught up with one of my favourite people in the bar over coffee and nibbles, and even had a photo shoot in the hotel’s adjacent park!

Coinciding with the discovery of Splento, I have experienced high demand for updated headshots so decided to use the hotel’s historic location to my advantage and hire a photographer.

I had little clue what to expect but was completely blown away by the experience and results (some of which you see here). As someone who prefers to be behind a camera instead of in front of it, headshots aren’t all that appealing an idea. My experience, however, was with an incredibly friendly and talented photographer (who has shot for TIME and National Geographic) that immediately put me at ease. We discussed my expectations & desired results, strolled through the surrounding area for two hours, shot constantly, and parted ways with a thousand and one shots to chose from. I could not recommend Splento enough (party photography, events, portraits – you name it, they do it!).

When ‘to do’ was ‘to done’, I returned to the hotel to for a dinner that would prepare me for a very exciting evening ahead…but more on that later…

Before we knew it, it was time to leave for Camden’s Apple Music Festival takeover of The Roundhouse as ibis’ theatre partnership left us with tickets to see Bastille! The night was as bizarre and wonderful as one could imagine; we were sat next to a toe-tapping Ed Miliband, Bastille were better live than any artist I’ve seen this year, and Craig David even popped out to perform with them for a few songs. It was the cherry on top of an already phenomenal day.

Having confirmed a 4am check-out with the hotel, I was also especially pleased to find the team had prepared us takeaway breakfast bags for our departure so we didn’t have to miss out on their celebrated breakfast faire.

Before boarding the train to Boardmasters (England’s closest-to-Coachella idea of a surf and music festival on the Cornish coast) I hadn’t thought much about what I would be doing. In fact, having recently spent some time getting to know Cornwall, I thought it would all be a piece of clotted cream cake.

It wasn’t. By the end, I was entertained, delighted, horrified, surprised, and severely unshowered all the same. For your viewing pleasure, I now present…

As you will have seen on Snapchat, I spent my Sunday somewhat omnipresent in Tequila Town and bringing you the best of Citadel Festival in partnership with Jose Cuervo.

You could call it work, but it seems unfair to label sunshine, street food, music and frozen margaritas as such.

Though this one-day festival is only in its second year, its packs the punch of an old school festi-fave; everything is experiential. The day began with a manic leap towards The Cheese Truck (which you know I love) before immersing myself in the adoartion of Sigur Ros, Beardyman, Battles, Tinariwen, Calexico, and my long-term girlcrush of girlcrushes, Lianne La Havas.

Every between-stage moment was spent in Tequila Town (natch) dancing to Latin-tinted megamixes with strangers and cooling down with Cuervo cocktails en masse. In fact, I only think I left the temporary Town to secure myself some Popdogs nourishment.

The lifestyle blog of Lela London. Be it a travel blog, fashion blog, food blog, beauty blog, music blog, or something entirely different...I just like to think of it as a place where I can jam my tongue in my cheek, spread love, inspire adventure, and make you giggle.